MASK
by FastForward
Summary: Series of oneshots about the six people in Naruto I believe wear masks. Can you guess which six?
1. Naruto

**Disclaimer: Naruto ain't mine. If he was, trust me, you would know. **

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**MASK.**

**Naruto.**

Why do people wear a mask?

What is its purpose? How does it work?

Does everyone wear a mask, or is it only those who have something to hide?

I know why I wear one.

Honestly, I don't know if I have a true self. I've lived with this mask so long it has consumed me. Replaced me. Become a part of me.

Become me.

Everything about me has all been carefully orchestrated to hide who I am.

How I feel.

What I have inside me.

People don't notice. They don't want to. They don't care.

They just see the demon, they don't see me. They don't see Naruto.

No one understands that the person who suffers the most because of the demon is me.

People have lost loved ones, friends, family—all because of the demon.

What about me?

Denied a real life. Living a hated existence. Denied friends. Denied someone to love me. Denied the right to love someone back.

All because of the demon.

The demon is my purpose for the mask. He is the reason I cannot be who I want to be.

I wear the horrid orange jumpsuit not because I want to stand out, but because I wish to hide. If the people believe I want to stand out, they will ignore me. If people truly knew how badly I wish to hide, they would spend their days seeking me out. Giving me attention. Because they would know it is not what I want.

The deceitful smile of happiness I wear. The smile no one has been able to read.

It's well and easy to look at a smiling face and be tricked into thinking a person is happy. One must look at the eyes to truly understand the depths of someone's pain. The eyes will tell you what they're truly feeling.

When people look at me, they focus on my smile. 'Naruto is smiling. People who smile are happy. Therefore, Naruto is happy'.

It's easy to follow this equation. It's easier not to care.

One would know my true feelings if they wanted to. All they had to do was focus on my eyes.

Simple, right?

Based on how many people have done it, probably not.

Or maybe they have, but they find it easier to ignore my eyes and focus on my deceitful smiles.

Eyes show too much.

My pain.

My loneliness.

My hate for this world.

My hate for myself.

My hate for the demon.

No one cares enough to pull this mask off.

No one cares enough to chip away, even just a little, the layer of falseness that envelops me.

The mask that hides who I really am.

The mask that hides us all.

Who is Uzumaki Naruto?

Who is he _really_?

Isn't it funny...

that even...

even I...

don't really know.


	2. Sasuke

**Disclaimer: Sasuke isn't mine, and even if he were, I would be angry with him for being a mean person :P**

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**MASK.**

**Sasuke.**

I wear a mask so people cannot use my emotions against me.

Too many times have I let my true self show only to be kicked in the face because of it.

Like when I showed my concern for that blond dobe while fighting Haku. Had I not cared, had I pretended he meant nothing to me—Haku wouldn't have focussed on attacking Naruto to stop me. He knew I would protect him, and that made me weak.

My mask is indifference. Indifference is the easiest face to keep. It keeps me in check.

Someone dies, I show no emotion.

Someone is injured, I do not care.

Someone is missing, it doesn't concern me.

No matter what happens, it is of no importance. My mask keeps me numb to all the pains in the world.

If I do not feel, I do not have to fear being hurt. Anger and indifference are the only emotions I will express.

The only people capable of breaking my mask are Team Seven. Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi.

Yes, even that damned perverted bastard can chip my mask, even just a little.

Sakura cares for me too much, and it hurts. It hurts to know I cannot care for her as much as she does for me.

I want to care, but caring causes pain. So the mask hides my feelings. It keeps me safe.

Naruto works at my mask the most. He rips at it. Tears it. Claws it. Bites it.

He'll get a grip on it and he won't let go.

I hate him.

I hate them all.

I have to hate them to keep the pain away.

Hurting others is better. Better to hurt them before they hurt you.

I don't want to care for anyone, because if they are injured—if they die...

My mask will beak.

My mask resembles Haku's Mist nin mask. One face. One expression. One feeling.

I do not want to lose this mask.

I cannot show emotion, especially when I go to face Itachi.

I am weak because I feel. He is strong because he does not.

The mask hides the pain.

The fear.

The emptiness.

I cannot feel. I mustn't feel.

Those who wear masks do so to hide who they are. I do it to shield myself from becoming who I must not become.

Were people to know I felt more than I showed, I would not be able to avenge my clan. I would begin to care for those who are unworthy. They do not deserve my feelings, they do not deserve for me to care.

No one is worthy of my love.

I have only one purpose: to avenge my clan.

This is my purpose.

This is all I must care about.

It's in my bones.

It's in my blood.

It's what I am. Who I've become.

An Avenger.

The mask hides Sasuke. He no longer exists. He died when Itachi killed his clan.

The Avenger is the only one who remains.

I don't want to care.

I can't.

_**I won't!**_


	3. Neji

**Disclaimer: Neji doesn't like me, and therefore, he cannot be mine ;**

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**MASK.**

**Neji.**

I never believed in fate.

How could I believe in fate if I always thought I would defeat Hinata? If fate were real, I would be destined to always be weaker than her.

I never believed she would surpass me, therefore I could not have believed in fate.

It was all a lie. A trick, if you will. A deceitful mask used to hide my true intentions. To hide how powerful I know I am.

I never believed I would be the best. That would be too arrogant of me. No, I just knew I could defeat those who were not as strong as I was.

I never thought Naruto could beat me, so when he did, I was amazed. He was the first person to truly crack my mask, make me realize that it wasn't a good mask to have.

For one who wears a mask that suggests he believes in fate, and then to have that mask wrenched off by someone who doesn't believe you—it's shocking.

I never would've imagined Naruto to have that kind of insight.

Then again, he may not have noticed it was a mask at all. He may have just decided he didn't like the way I was and wished to change me.

I want to change, but I cannot.

I must continue to pretend I believe in fate.

I can change my view on fate, but I cannot say it no longer exists, even though I never believed in it in the first place.

I had to change my view, mostly because I was acknowledged.

My uncle realized I was a true genius.

But I'm not a genius, not really.

You see, that's another mask I wear.

If I believe I'm a genius, then others believe it, too. Even if it's a lie.

A true genius is one who will not admit defeat, no matter what.

Someone who knows he is outnumbered. Knows he is not strong enough. Knows there is no possible way for him to win. Yet—he keeps fighting.

_That_ is a _true_ genius.

Gai-sensei often calls Lee a genius of hard work.

Naruto isn't even labelled a genius, but to me, I regard him as a genius of strength. A genius of stamina.

Those who do not give up no matter the odds are the ones who are truly geniuses.

Just once—I'd like to strip off this fake mask that labels me a genius. The fake mask that insists I believe in fate.

Just once...

I would like to be...

Neji.

Just Neji.

Hyuuga Neji.

A genius of spotting other geniuses.

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A/N: Wow... Neji is REALLY hard... The others were coming along really easily, but him... yikes!**


	4. Gaara

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gaara... He's too scary...**

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**MASK.**

**Gaara.**

I never knew why I wore the mask until I met someone else like me.

I wore the mask of the demon to hide who I am. He wore a mask to hide the demon.

I saw no point. Hiding the demon was just denying who you were.

I truly believed _I_ was the demon.

I hid myself behind the demon. I found my purpose in bloodshed. In death.

Of everyone I know, I am the only one to have shed my mask.

I sat down and picked away at it. Bit by bit.

Made is disappear.

I forced the demon further into my mind. I have separated myself from the demon.

I no longer wear his mask to hide who I am and what I feel.

Living so long with the belief that I was a demon dulled my senses. It made me forget who I was. How to feel. The demon was my mask.

He told me he was in charge. No one cared about me. My purpose was to kill. Cause pain.

I believed him.

Then, I met someone with a mask stronger than mine. I know it's a mask, because no one who's suffered as much as me can always have a smile on his face.

He hides the demon, but he also hides himself. I decided I didn't want to wear a mask of indifference.

A mask of hate.

Death.

Pain.

Chaos.

I don't want to be this monster anymore.

I don't want to pretend to be something I'm not.

I want to change.

But I never knew how. Death, hate—the thrill of the kill. That's all I knew how to do.

I was used to people hating me. I didn't care. I thought I deserved to be hated. I was a demon, after all.

So if I wanted to change... How do I change?

"I'm gonna be Hokage someday!"

That was what he said. All the time, like some broken record.

Hokage. Hokage. Hokage.

So if the person exactly like you aims so high—why not follow?

But in truth, I traded one mask for another.

I don't wear the mask of a demon anymore, but I don't show my true self, either.

I wear the mask of the Kazekage. Someone who cares about his people and his village.

That's not true.

I care, yes, but not about the entire village. Why care about people who made my life a living hell?

I've made a choice. I've decided to wear a mask that will force me to care. It gives me the image of a caring person, and this works for me.

I _will_ protect this village.

I _will_ fight for this village.

I _will_ **die** for this village.

Because I care about some people here. And I care about the person who will die for his village.

The person who made me remove my mask cares about his village. I want to follow his example, so I will do the same.

I want the mask I wear to disappear. I want to actually _care_ about the people I am protecting.

I want a new purpose.

I want to care.

I don't—

I don't want to be a demon anymore.


	5. Sakura

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sakura. **

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**MASK.**

**Sakura.**

I don't love Sasuke.

Not really.

I mean, I love him, but in the same way I love Naruto and Kakashi.

He's a teammate.

A friend.

A brother.

Someone I would risk my life for, and would trust with my life.

I've never loved Sasuke more than that. I just pretended to because I thought I had to.

Everywhere I looked, girls were swooning. Girls loved him. Wanted him. So I thought I did, too.

But the more I spent time with him, the more I realized I didn't love him.

He doesn't know how to treat people. He doesn't understand his words and actions are insulting, degrading—even humiliating. And if he does realise it, that's even worse.

How can he say he wants to revive his clan when he shows no interest in anyone? Who would want to be with such a cold, uncaring bastard?

No, I don't love him. He's a friend. He's important to me, but I could never truly love him the way other girls do.

But I don't want to be different. I have pink hair, and a large forehead. I'm different physically, and I don't want to be picked on anymore.

If everyone loves him, then so will I.

Kakashi knows I wear this mask. Not at first, my mask was too perfect. But as time went on, he _did_ notice.

"Why do you pretend to be something you're not? A crazy, lovesick Sasuke fangirl. You don't love him."

It's true.

But I don't want to be different.

If they knew I loved Lee—they would pick on me. Even more than they already do.

And they would pick on him, for having two people so different physically from other people in love.

I can't do that to him.

I can't do that to myself.

So, I do this instead.

Admittedly, it's not any better, but it keeps me safe. It keeps him safe, too.

By pretending to love Sasuke, I can blend in with everyone else. It's all I want. I'm just lucky that constant rejection from Sasuke doesn't hurt me the way it hurts other girls.

I can't imagine loving Sasuke as much as they do and being rejected constantly like that. Why bother? It's too painful, which is why I'm thankful for this mask.

With this mask, I can run around pretending to love someone when I'm in love with someone else. It hurts me to pretend, and it hurts both the person I pretend to love and the person I truly love. But it's for the best.

When I grow up, this mask will come off. I have no doubt in my mind that I will begin not to care about others and focus on what _I_ want.

I won't follow others just because I'm afraid. I'll change, and begin to care more about what matters to me, and less about what others think of me.

Why should I care?

I wish I didn't care now.

But I do.

So I continue to wear the mask.

Wait for me, Lee-kun.

One day soon, this mask will come off.


	6. Kyuubi

**Disclaimer: Kyuubi isn't mine. I'd be terrified if he was. And probably send him somewhere far, far away...**

**A/N: Okay, so not _really_ a mask... I couldn't help it! I just saw the possibilities and the humour when all the others were so angsty and—please don't hurt me...  
****Also, I had to put quotations around a trailing off because they wouldn't stay... So, if you see this "..." ignore the quotations. They're just there to keep the trailing off there.**

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MASK.

Kyuubi.

I want out!

Can you blame me?

Day after day, being trapped in this worthless, snot-nosed brat's body.

It's enough to make me want to kill myself, except—wait! I can't!

How embarrassing. Wearing this stupid human as a mask of my true self.

This annoying brat isn't even _half_ of who I am!

Gah! Of all the bodies Yondaime could've shoved me in, it _had _to be _this_ one!

Why not that Uchiha Sasuke character? Now _him_ I could've handled being trapped inside!

At least I'd be able to relieve some sexual tension every once in a while! The guy has girls jumping on him left, right and centre!

This stupid blond—okay, admittedly, it's my fault he has no women, but—tch! People should learn to look past that! LOOK PAST IT!

The guy has blond hair and blue eyes, for crying out loud! Isn't that hot enough?.!

Can't just ONE PERSON want to bone him?.!

This stupid human mask—I hate it.

Of course, it's not my only mask.

I also wear the mask of destruction because no one loves me!

"..."

You didn't believe that, did you? HA! I DON'T CARE ABOUT LOVE! I'll eat anything that MOVES!

I just want OUTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

Whose idea was this, anyway? I mean, what's keeping me trapped in some runt's body gonna do?.!

I AM THE NINE-TAILED FOX, KYUUBI!

This _boy_ is not going to be able to hold me forever! To think, this guy represents me!

I feel so—disgusted!

To wear this shell of a human day after day. How pathetic.

I feel so degraded. I can't even gain my freedom from his body! This _weakling_!

You'd think I'd have broken through by now, but _nooooo_! He steals all my chakra, and he's _still_ in control!

Sure, after a time he isn't in control anymore, but neither am I. It's kind of an in-between place. He's not conscious of what he's doing, nor am I in control of what he's doing.

That makes me feel even _more_ pathetic.

GAH! HOW CAN THIS BLOND IDIOT HOLD ME?.!

_**ME!**_

_Naruto_ wears a mask?.! Well I wear a mask, too!

A MASK OF SANITY!

CAUSE I'M GOING INSANE IN THIS BLOND IDIOT'S HEAD!

I WANT **_OUT_**!

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A/N: Heh, like I said... admittedly, this isn't a mask, but my sense of humour was shrivelling up and dying in a rotted, old corner because I was neglecting it. Sorry it isn't angsty, but I hope it gave you a chuckle and made you feel bad for Kyuubi. S'gotta be hard being trapped like that...**


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